I can't believe I won't be able to see when I get drafted as a replacement. Dang.

i cant show up due to work sadly. i may be able to join about 9:30pm UK time

Sadly work makes me unable to follow the draft   Good luck to all captains, I'm very curious to find out tomorrow early morning in which team I'll be drafted in. I'm very happy for Scoop and RWE getting their chance to captain, also interested in what Leon and JK will do as they are both very gifted parkmakers. 

Also... Liam only "costing" 3 points is kinda way too low haha.

Some silly statistics:

only 50% builder shares are included.

Spotlights and spotlight winners:
Dambusters: 9 spotlights by 4 builders

Lonely Hearts: 3 spotlights by JK

Hurricanes: 5 spotlights by 4 builders

Jazzcats: 2 spotlights by 2 builders

Soda Jerks: 1 spotlight by Josh

Evergreen Gardeners: 7 spotlights by 5 builders
 

Highest AP score and runner up per team:
Dambusters: 97.5% (alex) and 97% (andrew)

Lonely Hearts Club: 93% (JK) and 89.5% (JK)

Hurricanes: 92.7% (Kumba) and 91% (Xtreme)

Jazzcats: 91% (Leon) and 88% (AVC)

Soda Jerks: 86% (Josh) and 84% (Josh, Ethan, Walt)

Evergreen Gardeners: 94.5% (Fisch) and 89% (Hydro, Bill)

Some takeaways:

First row picks all prove their worth based on this metric, JK just outcompetes FK lol. Dambusters take no prisoners. Highest score was a bloodbath in Evergreen Gardeners with several players having parks of around 88.5-87. Jazzcats and Soda Jerks score pretty bad in this table, but mostly because they're all very collaborative players. They got duped because of low builder shares, but in H2H that shouldn't be an issue.

Wanted to do a row with contest wins, but didn't bother yet. I have a feeling that Jazzcats would take that with all the past H2H winners on their roster. But I think Soda Jerks have some individual contest winners which would also help them score better on that.

Some pairings I'm particularly interested in seeing:

Fisch + Babar
Ethan + Dirt
Tols + Steve
CC9 + Splitvision
FK + Hex
Cocoa + Hoobaroo

Fabarch

Dethan

Stesimir

Clitvision9

Fex

Cocobaroo

Sorry I don't speak German

The pairing I'm sure I'll see anyway: Josh / Scoop

hoob ultro......

ok so full disclosure, been away for a good while and i'm not 100% familiar with every person on every team. apologies if this relates to you, this is gonna be a quick high-level review of how i'm feeling about each team, highlighting a few players maybe.

The DamBusters

At first glance, this is a stacked top 6 or so. Andrew and Alex both have recently made the highest rated parks ever on the site, and hoobaroo is one of my favorite players, especially for a format like H2H where the initial reveal of a park counts for so much. Throw in Liam, Cocoa and trav, all who have great track records of building strong and diverse themes and there are a ton of player combinations with the potential to make winning parks. I don't really know anyone past pick 7 honestly, but if that top 6 are able to take the lead on some parks then anyone should have a blast building together. 

Lonely Hearts Club

I don't think the top 6 is quite as strong on paper as the DamBusters, but the range of outcomes here is super interesting. JK, FK, nin and Jens all capable of beating anyone on their day, and i'm especially looking forward to seeing what nin brings to the table - always underrated for me. The middle order for this team is really where it shines though. Anyone from pick 4-8 has already shown enough talent to build a winning park imo, and there is a diverse skillset that could result in almost any park style working well. I could easily see someone from this range of picks vaulting up into parkmaker levels during this contest. 

Hurricanes

Great to see the Hurricanes back for more, Kumba's staying power is worth celebrating. You've got a really interesting lineup here, probably not traditionally as strong as some of the other teams, but in a weird way it feels very much like a Kumba team. There are a lot of players here that just play the game in a different way to "normal" people. Kumba, Splitvision, TerryInferno, Levis... I see this being a very concept-heavy team, with the potential to build something completely left field and completely new. If Xtreme, otter and Jappy can bring some order to the possible chaos, this could work very well indeed. 

JazzCats

Outrageous top 5, perks of having the best active player as your captain I guess. A really exciting mix of concept and skill level means any one of those players could build the park of the season. AJ is a really strong up and comer, and past that I have to be honest and say I don't know a ton about the rest of the roster. However, if any of the other players can level up by working with that top 5, which is always a feature of H2H, then this team should have no trouble at all. Perhaps a lot of pressure on the big players on this team to step up and lead, but they've all shown that they can do it in the past. Very much looking forward to what this team can do. 

Soda Jerks

This roster looks DEEP on first glance - picks 5-8 could easily have gone in the top 4 rounds on another day imo. Looks like it might lack a little of the top end power that a couple of the other teams have, but you do have a lot of tried and tested players who have won H2H rounds in the past with great parks. Ethan is obviously one of the most exciting builders out there right now, i'm very excited to see what comes of that talent and vision paired with someone who can potentially clean up and meld everything together aesthetically. Just looked further down the roster and even your last few picks are strong builders that i'm familiar with (not sure that counts for much). I hope scoop, in:cities, walto and ziscor can contribute like they have in previous contests, any one can easily win matchups with the right park. 

Evergreen Gardeners

RWE put together a really strong team here, with a great mix of veteran and upcoming, active talent. Babar is the one i'm most interested in, he's been pumping out H2H-esque solo parks for the past little while, and they've been getting better and better. If we see a similar productivity level, he could carry this team paired with strong conceptual or atmospheric builders. A few potential question marks on productivity for the rest of the team imo, with a few veterans who haven't done a ton recently. But sometimes it's good to have someone on the team who has walked the walk, and Six Frags, Louis, Belgian Guy, Fisch etc. definitely have. If everyone fires up and builds, this team has the potential to challenge.

Impossible to rank the teams for me, there's just so many variables and also players i'm not fully familiar with, so it wouldn't be fair. Suffice to say, every team has enough talent on there to beat any other team on their day, and it will likely come down to productivity and leadership, as H2H often does. The discord has been quiet for a few weeks now, feels like a sign that everyone is diligently putting the hours in Roll on round 1!

Love the writeup turtle. 

Dambusters
A scary team right off the bat. Andrew + Liam is a deadly combo as we've seen last H2H, and having someone like Alex in the mix automatically guarantees quality maps. Hoobaroo is lightning in a bottle - I'm hoping that he gets to unleash some of his creative chaos on the competition - just not against me! I also anticipate Cocoa to be a huge asset to the team - especially for the discord banter. Looking at the rest of the lineup, having Recurious as a 1 pointer is ludicrous. Hoping to see a lot of cool stuff from him this contest. Great to see Ace in the mix, and of course Trav, roygbiv, ulvenwood, and ultro return back to h2h. There's a good opportunity here for thrillman to make an impact. Excited to see morganfan come out swinging!

Hoping to see some classic liam style maps - tons of fun, great details and placemaking, high concepts from hoobaroo and cocoa, alex continuing to expand his already ridiculous approach to the game. Lots of cool potential combinations of players here. Stylistically, I have no idea what to expect from this team, which is exciting.

Lonely Wankers Club

A little sad that JK didn't draft me, because now I have to beat him. Super happy to see him get a shot at captaining though after campaigning hard for it. An absolute no-brainer. I always thought I was good at motivating and pushing projects through to completion, and working with him for the GT final drove me crazy because he was even more motivated and driven than I was. But in a good way haha. I'd imagine his team is very lucky to have him at the helm. Despite his h2h luck, FK is an amazing first choice to help anchor the team. I always adore the parks he makes (dont tell him that), and i'm certain he'll be a key player throughout the contest. It makes me sad that I couldn't be on a team with Jens and nin this h2h, as both are at the top of my list for players I've really wanted to collaborate with. I expect Jens to go all out this contest and create some mindbending work. And of course, having nin on a team is a good time for many reasons. I know JK and co are probably very grateful for his insight in the planning/sketching/idea process! Looking at the rest of the roster, there's a really well rounded group of people here. Iretont and Hex are an absolute joy to have on a team, and I'm jealous because that means the team is likely waking up to encouraging voice memos from Hex. It's really nice to see Rob, Sammy, deano, and amusement parker picked so high together. Lots of proven talent here, but also a great chance to show what they can do. Camcorder is a steal at a 1 point, and i'm super excited to see what she's got in store. Mamarillas also goes hard during contests, so it's going to be a lot of fun to see where his creativity is pointed at. I'm a little less familiar with CHE's work, but i'm looking forward to seeing what they produce this time around.

This team has a huge capacity for very strong aesthetically adventurous maps. Having people like JK and nin heavily involved in supporting all of the maps will be huge when it comes to establishing a strong and cohesive park environment. Looking for some really great landscape heavy parks, infused with nin's unkillable desire to build all of the parks that a 5 year old boy would like (dinosaurs, space, transportation, cowboys, pirates).

Hurricanes

Here he is, back from the grave. Kumba steps out of the shadows to resurrect the Hurricanes back into H2H glory. At first glance, this is a fairly unconventional group of players, so I'm really curious to see what these boys cook up. It seems like Kumba is really keen on pushing the limits of the game with players like Splitvision, kenos, and Levis. Those three alone are wildly innovative - I just hope they don't break the game too badly with their wild ideas. Paired with proven players like xtreme, otter, BSG, Jappy, CC9, and Terry, there's a ton of potential here for some insanity. The really interesting component of this team for me is the addition of some incredible players fresh from the recent dkmp contests. Ballpit, Bluetiful, and Congoy are ridiculously talented at this game. I'm hoping that they've not only got the free reign to build in the style that they do best, but are also willing to push themselves to include some new styles and techniques. That said, I feel that there's a ton that the NE old guard can learn from these guys when it comes to pushing this game to it's limits. So much innovation possible here!

Map wise, I'm expecting a healthy mix of classical h2h style maps - tons of fun ideas and little details. Some largescale landscaping/macro goodness from ol' Terry, and some sort of game-changing innovation from the splitvision/levis camp. Just don't send out a park that requires us to install a new plugin or game version lol.

Jazzcats

I can't believe you guys let Leon rebuild the tile inspectors. Leon + Tols + AVC on the same team is ludicrous. Hoping that the addition of Steve and Bubbsy doesn't drag the team down too much. Jene and AJ are two of the best in the game right now, and anchored by insanely talented players like Suormot, Brightside, and Saxman, there's a ton of depth here. I'm super happy to see monsterbux and 94 supreme on this team, as they're two of the most exciting players to watch right now. Bringing that dkmp contest dominance over to a h2h matchup is scary. Shame to see the flowdiskord drop out, but it kind of feels expected since he's never made the jump over to the NE discord where all of the community activity actually happens. SpaceK is an amazing addition to this team, and I'm excited to see what they end up pumping out. 

Park wise, there's a huge potential here for some high concept, incredibly detailed maps. Big ideas with distinct aesthetics, infused with game-changing innovation. Who let this team happen.

Evergreen Gardeners

It's so great to see RWE get a shot at captaining in this contest. He's managed to draft a ridiculous team with a massive amount of roster depth. Frags, zara, bill and lurker at just 1 point is insane. Lots of proven talent in the 2 point range as well with Belgian guy, Lew, MK and G Force. If those four players are able to be as active as they've been in the past, the productivity of this team will be hard to compare to. Speaking of productivity, Hydro and Babar are insane picks. Hydro was so great to have on my team last time, and really pushed out a large amount of RCT. I know the young man is in school this time around, so I'd assume he won't have as much time to build, but knowing him, I'm certain he'll end up cranking out a masterpiece regardless. Babar is also a productivity powerhouse - I look forward to seeing who he collaborates with. I also hope to see barNID back to form this contest. While his availability was a bit hit or miss for me last H2H, he was super reliable when he was actually able to build. Also, screw you for snagging Fisch. I regret helping to convince him to sign up, because I know he's going to end up being classic Fisch and slapping us all with something great again. Why did we let this happen.

Map wise, I hope to see a lot of architecture heavy maps with some really solid coasters and ride design. Babar is an absolute idea machine, and RWE having a 2 point value will be a massive boost to this team, as I can easily picture him joining in on multiple parks to push to completion. 

Circle Jerks

Scoop keeps posting GIFS in the discord, Ethan keeps joining the VC with his camera on and no clothes, Gustav is currently quarantined to his own channel where he can post as many paragraphs as he wants, walto keeps drawing dicks, ziscor is handsome, mulpje only speaks to us in European, Maverix keeps recoloring everything in the park to orange, dr dirt is attempting a coup, inthemanual is asleep, Fred is currently building a "Lizards!" map, gamma only communicates to the team through LinkedIn messages, and Hobeon never accepted the server invite. 

We're going to win.

Gonna try my hand at this team analysis thing.

Dambusters: Not what I'd expect when I think of a typical Liam team, but very strong and well-rounded. Great blend of styles from more grounded players like Alex and roygbiv to concept powerhouses like Cocoa, Hoob, and Ulvenwood with ACE and the absolutely robbed Recurious offering tons of potential with object creation and hacking. TTM is a crazy pick but I can see him lending his archi skills to a Trav/Andrew park. Ultro's been on every Liam team since H2H8 and I hope he gets more time in the spotlight this time around; I can see him augmenting Liam or a Hoob-led work of art. Expecting a lot of variety from this team.

Lonely Hearts Club: Good vibes and huge concepts all around! I'm not shocked J K got a captain spot this H2H, as his positive attitude, experience leading teams, and reignited devotion to RCT make him a lock. FK is a ballsy R1 pick given his rocky H2H history, but between H2H9 and H2HX he's produced some of the most mind-shattering RCT ever made and may be able to turn things around. Jens, nin, and mamarillas have been at their hottest recently and J K can probably get some masterpieces out of them. Things get a little weird later in with players who haven't been crazy active or released much but have some of the most potential out of anyone drafted, such as AmusementParker and deanosrs. I think overall player availability and surprise performances could be life or death for the Lonely Hearts Club, but they're not going down without some show-stoppers.

Hurricanes: The champs are back! Just with the weirdest roster of the contest. Kumba put down tons of chips on mostly utility-focused players like Splitvision, Kenos, and Levis while augmenting them with reliable, head-down builders like Terry, Otter, Jappy, and CC9. Xtreme is a hell of a R1 pick, and his captaining experience with the Barnacle Heads will come in handy this season. Also one of the most DKMP-forward teams of the contest, and I think Bluetiful/Congoy/ballpitwarrior are going to swing for the fences with a risky yet high-concept DKSO park. Very interested to see what combinations come out of this team, as there's a lot of risky picks and players with low availability who could still make something amazing if utilized well.

Jazz Cats: The scariest team of the contest and the obvious second place finishers. The Tile Inspectors 2.0 Jumpscare in the first two picks suggested a crazy high-concept team like before, but former TI co-captain Leon has gone for a more grounded and realistic approach afterward with players like Steve, AJ, Brightside, and Saxman. Still, we could see some insane fantasy work from Jene, Suormot, 94SP, and monsterbux. Lots of strong combinations throughout like AJ/Bubbsy, AVC/Leon/Tolsimir, Suormot/monsterbux/94SP, and mock draft dream pairing AVC/Suormot, but I'm thinking we could see some fresh new combinations which make everyone wonder why they haven't worked together before. SpaceK replacing theflowdiskord turned this team into a superweapon armed with his CTR skills that made everyone think ORCT2 would become a 3D modeling program. Expecting some top-notch semi-realism and fantasy and a deep bracket run.

Evergreen Gardeners: This might be the best realism team I've seen in a H2H. All of these players at their max capacity can sweep; real world concerns and how new captain RWE can temper them will play a major part. Babar paired with almost any single player on the team can probably win a round, especially a realism-focused player with strong layout skills like Lew or Belgian. The round 4 pick is a little Fischy; the three-time consecutive H2H champion has very little free time to make a serious contribution to a park, but having his expertise and feedback will be a huge asset to the rest of the team. RWE should also be arrested on multiple counts of grand theft for bagging Zara, Coasterbill, and Six Frags at one point each! Lurker is also a gamble with his limited internet and retro style, so I'm excited to see how he integrates into the rest of the team. While very obviously realism-forward, I have heard RWE mention he wanted to dive deeper into fantasy this H2H so I'm eager to see what he comes up with in that regard and who may join him. Either way, the Evergreen Gardeners will likely boast some of the best layouts of the contest and I can see them making semifinals at least.

Soda Jerks: Day 21. Scoop has posted the Tropic Thunder Asian kid GIF at least fifty thousand times. Josh has already made the AI voice that sounds like me confess to several counts of first-degree murder. Fred's been radio silent; he has a frog in his throat. They're forcing me to make a park out of signs containing literal walls of text. CP6, Mrs. Walto, and Josh's dog Oli are all ghostbuilding. We farm.

OK for real. Scoop went for the big guns in terms of high concepts and real-world experience in and out of the theme park industry (Josh, Maverix, and ITM especially). While the first half of the draft consists of six reliable players with big ideas, the second half is a nice blend of newcomers, absolute highway robbery, and a reformed GammaZero. There's a great blend of all-rounders, exciting newcomers, experienced veterans, a goblin that will place a single bush, and object makers with nothing but good vibes all the way. Can't say much more except I absolutely love being a Soda Jerk. Not only do I really hope we make finals, but I genuinely think we will. Can't wait to see how it goes!

Dambusters

As always I think Liam will pick up some wins. I think with the first four round picks there's 3 wins in that mix of potential lead builders. Any combo of Andrew+Trav, Liampie+Cocoa, Alex+anyone, Hoobaroo+anyone can do some damage. We also know that roygbiv can produce at a very high level. I expect big step ups from Ulvenwood and MorganFan as well. This is my first contest since H2H7 that I am not on Cocoa's team, so I am fully aware of the narrative-driven mindset that he brings to a team and that is a huge asset for the Dambusters to have. And we know that Liampie is great in that department as well. I expect some really creative entries with some unique storytelling.

Lonely Hearts Club

What a stacked team! Curious to see if we get a Jens led park since he was picked so high. Really amazing to see his growth since getting picked late last H2H. I expect something in the same vein as Pirates! from nin.. curious if that immersive worldbuilding pays off this time, or if it stumbles like Pirates! did in terms of votes. I still think that park is underrated and should've won. Sorry Scoop. Excited to see contributions from AmustementParker - I think he could surprise some people if the team does some heavy realism stuff. Only worry for me with this roster is the lack of recent activity from some of the builders. 

Hurricanes

Oh hey it's my team! Hoping we can surprise a few people this contest. I think we aren't as high on everyone's watch list, but that makes me more motivated.

Jazzcats

You guys are scary, geez. Those first 3 picks plus Leon are ridiculous. This team could crank out 3 good parks, coast the last 2 of the round robin and then destroy everyone in the Semi's. There's a lot of talent outside the top 3-4 picks and I am really excited to see new work from Suormot and monsterbux. I think Bubbsy can be a gamechanger too. I don't honestly see a single weakness in this line up. When you have some crazy good builders at the top, it brings up the level of everyone else. 

Soda Jerks

A team full of the biggest Jerks on NE. Damn. Can't stand these guys. I anticipate Scoop building a park that is 80% Fisch rocks around a layout Maverix made. Then Josh saves the day by spamming colorful awnings and custom flats. Ends up beating Pirates 2! by Jens and nin. Jokes aside, this team has a lot of firepower and creativity. There previous H2H captains, parkmakers, H2H winners, all on this team. It's crazy how deep this team is when your 9th and 10th picks have led H2H parks. This team seems to have a lot of builders that work really well in a collaborative environment and that'll be very beneficial as the contest drags on.

Evergreen Gardeners

Excited to see what RWE can do as captain. Always present, I think it'll inspire others to be more active as a result. There's numerous builders on this team that could crank out a solo and win a round. Key here would be to make sure others get involved in a meaningful way. Again, another team with maybe some seemingly inactive builders, so hopefully we see some new work from the likes of Zara, Louis, G Force, and Coasterbill. I hope my inactive builder comments are quickly proven wrong! Will be curious to see how Lurker meshes with H2H style building. In terms of Guess the Builder, this team might be the easiest to guess who builds on each park. 

Ask and you shall receive @otter

The Dambusters
Verdict: Scary

Two recent spotlight winners supported by a very diverse cast. We know the Liampie + Andrew + ultro is a deadly combo from last H2H, curious to see if they'll team up again this time. Any object ACE has produced has been in my workbench at some point, so can't wait to add a bazillion more after this contest. Secretly hoping alex busts out a NCSO park with the help of MorganFan and Ulvenwood, but we shall see...

Hurricanes
Verdict: Mom come pick me up

This team has it all doesn't it? Lethal and experienced CSO builders in the forms of Xtreme, Terry and otter, just to name a few. Then there's also Splitvision who really did push the boundaries of OpenRCT during H2H9 and MM23 and kenos who seemingly churns out new CTRs whenever they feel like it. Now I'm not saying I'm a prophet, but I've got some predictions:

- A team of ballpitwarrior, Bluetiful_Monday and Congoy seems like way too good of an opportunity to pass at...

- Levis will go crazy with the plugins, drama and discussion will arise about the inclusion of plugins in the contest and new rules will be formed (bingo?).

JazzCats

Verdict: *gulp*

Well well well... is this the team to beat? I don't know, but this lineup seems stacked: 4 out of the 12 team members we're on the Tile Inspectors last time and we all know how they did in H2H9... I have a feeling this team will go the most into the fantasy direction, moreso than the other teams. RIP theflowdiskord. Oh and Steve's there I guess.

Soda Jerks

Verdict: They talk the talk, but can they walk the walk?

Mr. Scoop has drafted a very, very deadly top 5 who could all lead a park to victory. Josh builds SAP (Soda Action Park), Ethan hits the object limit in their park, walto builds a park entirely out of ride vehicles (very reminicent of This Is Art, go check it out), Ziscor builds Le Coeur Du Ciel 2.0 and Mulpje shows up with some insane looking castles. I really liked Croaked! last H2H, so don't you underestimate FredD only being a 1-pointer. Will we see GIFs banned in the NE discord during H2HX? Only time will tell...

Evergreen Gardeners

Verdict: Gardens are about to get eviscerated

This 1-2 punch, just unfair. I have a hunch that this will be the team that goes the most into the realism direction. Lots of great realistic parks coming from this lineup such as Mahoning Gardens, Cook County Fair, Scream and Bawar Babi. Interested to see the team combinations here since I've got absolutely no clue where to even start lol. I will be seated for sure!

And last but certainly not least...

Lonely Hearts Club

Verdict: Get ready